


Show Me a Broken Heart

by Kris123123123



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 17:28:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5549153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kris123123123/pseuds/Kris123123123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Midorima Shintarou, college freshman, is still trying to cope with the trauma and anxiety of his previous abusive relationship. He meets Takao Kazunari, a charming, charismatic and all-around annoying person. Despite his best efforts, he accepts Takao's friendship and slowly repairs his previously broken heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The meeting

**Ch. 1:**

Midorima Shintarou sat in the back of his first college class, reflecting. He hated sitting in the back due to his myopia, but he was 6’5” so sitting in the front was not an option. Besides, he learned rather quickly that his striking green hair that matched his vibrant green eyes were a distraction to some of the students. At least in the back, people would be too embarrassed to look for long. 

He was hoping college would be different than high school. Maybe this time around he would have some more pleasant memories. It wasn’t that his high school experience was completely terrible; he was the best shooting guard in Japan and had quite a passion for basketball. Regardless of his skills however, he had some idiosyncrasies and a slight case of anxiety. The former shooting guard was not well liked by his peers: he was too strange, too intimidating, and terrible at holding conversations for longer than five minutes.  He didn’t even get along well with his rag-tag group of teammates or as most people called them the “Generation of Miracles”.

The former Miracle looked at the empty chairs around him and huffed. Class was starting in about two minutes and it looked like college was going to turn out just like high school at this rate. He realized it would be hard to maintain a social life with his schedule and constant studying for medical school admissions, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with the apparent rejection from his cohorts.

He pushed the negative thoughts out of his mind as he meticulously pulled out his supplies for class. His long, bandaged fingers brushed across his lucky item sitting in his bag. He had decided to leave it in his bag, hoping to come off as relatively normal on the first day. He tsked, Cancers were supposed to be in first place today. Maybe it was time to forget about his obsessions with Oha-aha and the horoscopes it provided.

As he wrote the header for his psychology notes, he heard a loud, high-pitched voice coming into the classroom.

“Of course I slept with her, Miyaji! I’m no tease!” Midorima winced, that statement was way too loud for what the intimacy of the conversation required. This man was going to be irritating and Midorima already hated him. Looking around, the green-haired man realized that the only place for this voice to sit was next to him or in front of him. He was convinced that Oha-Asa was wrong; Cancers were definitely not in first place today.

The loud man chose to sit at the desk right in front of Midorima and he inwardly cringed. Not only was he going to have to listen to this guy, but apparently he was going to have to stare at him all semester too. Midorima took a good look at the nuisance. He had black hair and defined muscles. He was shorter than Midorima, but anyone looking could tell he was an athlete, even under his baggy sweater and jeans. The brunette ended his phone call and Midorima hoped he was not interested in striking up conversation with random strangers. However, luck was not on his side today.

The brunette turned towards the green-haired man and bright blue eyes met dark green ones. His hair was long and falling in his face. He had a bright smile that happened to travel all the way to his eyes and anyone would admit that this man was handsome by most standards. This man was obviously someone who was charismatic and charming, even socially-inept Midorima had to concede that point. The brunette brushed his hair out of his eyes and offered a hand to Midorima.

“Takao Kazunari.” The man said, smiling wide. He was too cheery for an 8:30 class.  Midorima grunted in response, ignoring the proffered hand. The green-haired man crossed his arms over his chest and sent Takao one of his glares that had been notorious for making children cry and normal men cower. Apparently, Takao was no normal man. He did however pull back his hand, looking embarrassed.

“I forgot a pencil.” Glaring, Midorima tsked for the second time this morning and reached into his bag for one of the spares he knew he brought with him. He heard the brunette clear his throat and looked up into those bright blue eyes.

“While you’re down there, could you manage to grab me some paper too?”

The green-haired man was finding it harder and harder to keep his composure. This man was an idiot. Midorima pulled out a spare pen and some paper anyways, hoping it would end their one-sided conversation sooner. He tried to hand them to the man in front of him, but the other man was distracted.

“Oh my goodness! What is that?” Takao asked loudly, drawing the attention of most of their classmates. He then helped himself to Midorima’s backpack and, before the taller man could react, pulled out a small, stuffed, orange rabbit. The Cancer groaned and tried to grab the toy back before the bullying started. So much for appearing relatively normal in college.

He hid his blush behind his bandaged left hand and pretended to push his glasses up further onto the bridge of his nose. He was waiting for insults and jeers, but they never came. Instead, Takao took the rabbit into his lap and rubbed one of its ears.

“You know, I was totally scared of you at first, but this makes you way less intimidating, Shin-chan.” With that comment, he took the supplies and the rabbit and turned around in his seat, timing his actions perfectly with the start of the lecture.

The former Miracle blinked for a few moments, confused. He hadn’t spoken a single word and yet the man in front of him knew his name. The brunette had even called him by a god-awful nickname and they certainly were not close enough to warrant that behavior. This guy was truly irritating, but at least their interactions were complete and he never had to speak with the annoying brunette again.

As he began to meticulously take notes, he noticed the top of a long, orange ear peeking over Takao’s shoulder. Well crap, he thought. He was definitely going to need his lucky item back and that was going to require more interactions between the two men. The green-haired man was growing increasingly annoyed with this other man and now he knew for certain that he hated the guy.

The class droned on; the professor was going into excruciating detail about the different types of conditioning and learning behaviors. Midorima could feel his palms start to sweat and his pulse speeding up. If he was going to get his stupid lucky item back, he was going to need to initiate conversation. He contemplated the necessity and wondered if it would be beneficial to just forget about the stupid thing all together.

His prediction from this morning rang in his ears.

_ Cancers are very lucky today! Those changes you want aren’t going to happen on their own. Step out of your comfort zone and do something you normally wouldn’t do! You will not be disappointed. You might even be rewarded with a new friend for your troubles! Your lucky item is a rabbit and your lucky color is orange! _

How the hell was talking to possibly the most annoying person going to be a good thing for him? It was getting hard for him to breathe and the Cancer’s face was starting to become flushed. He took deep, slow breaths to try to calm himself, having a panic attack now would certainly not make the situation any better. For now, he was fine as long as he focused on taking notes and not the man sitting in front of him who was currently fondling his stuffed rabbit.

The class finished and Midorima’s pulse spiked again. He was just going to have to find his courage and talk to this man, even if he might regret it later.

“Hey, Takao!” He called as the shorter man began to walk through the doorway. The brunette turned and flashed one of his brilliant smiles towards the green-haired man.

“I wasn’t sure you would talk to me ever! You have such a nice voice!” Takao stepped closer. He was all smiles and teasing tone. Midorima still found the other man irritating and talking to the acquaintance was stressful. No lucky item was worth this amount of anxiety.

“I’m assuming you want Mr. Bun Bun back?”

Midorima stopped walking towards the other man and stared. This man’s knowledge of all-things-Shintarou was getting too creepy and way out of hand.

“How did you know it’s name, nanodayo? How did you know my name for that matter?”

At this Takao let out a big, genuine laugh.

“I didn’t know you actually named it! That’s rich Shin-chan!” The shorter man clutched his side, while holding the stuffed rabbit with his other hand. He wiped a tear from his eyes and held the small rabbit out towards its rightful owner. His face was suddenly serious.

“I know you’re name is Shin-chan because you’re a former Miracle aren’t you? You were famous back in high school. Your shots were always on point and your team … God you guys were so good. I watched every game you played. You guys were kind of a big deal.”

The former Miracle’s hopes for not being recognized from his high school days were crushed in that instant. So much for trying to fit in, he thought with a huff. He grunted, clearing his throat. Deciding that one person to talk to was better than none, he spoke again.

“You can call me Midorima, do not call me Shin-chan.”

“Are you going to try out for the team this year, Shin-chan?” Takao asked, completely ignoring Midorima’s previous statement. The taller man was getting noticeably more exasperated.

“Don’t call me that. And no. I don’t play any more, nanodayo.”

“Nanodayo? Shin-chan, you are one strange dude.” The brunette commented. Suddenly, Midorima was reminded of his old high school days: the constant teasing and bullying. This was such a bad idea, he thought. Why didn’t he go with his gut feeling? He braced himself for the ridicule that never came.

“I like you anyways, Shin-chan!” was all that Takao said after a moment. That was something Midorima didn’t hear in high school, at least not often. Maybe, this Takao character wasn’t all bad. He was grateful that he had the courage to talk to this idiot, because even though he was terribly annoying, he was kind when it counted. Takao was rambling, continuing on as though Midorima wasn’t having an internal conflict on whether he should like the man next to him or not.

“Why don’t you play basketball anymore?” His face fell, seeming lost in his own train of thought. “I was really hoping to play with you this year.”

“That’s not really any of your business, Takao.” He tried to look stern, hoping the other man wouldn’t press the issue. That was not a discussion for people who had just met.

“Alright, understood.” Takao replied, holding his hands up defensively. Midorima looked down at his watch and realized his class was going to start in about five minutes. He tried to get rid of Takao, but they continued to walk in the same direction. The taller man groaned when he realized that he shared yet another class with the short brunette.

The day continued in a similar manner, until finally classes were completed for the day. Midorima found out he had four out of his seven classes with Takao and he silently cursed his college’s core curriculum. He was still thinking about this series of circumstances as he studied in the library. Although Takao was unsettling, to say the least, he was incredibly charismatic and charming. Midorima felt himself being inexplicably drawn towards this other man. 

After he spent an hour or two studying in the library (that paper due at the end of the semester wasn’t going to write itself), he decided to walk back towards his dorm. Maybe his roommate would want to get dinner with him.

As he opened the door, he took in the sight he was still trying to call ‘home’. To his right was his roommate’s bed. It had bright blue bed sheets that were unmade. His roommate’s desk was in a similar state of disarray. The former Miracle tsked as he made his way through the piles of clothes and makeup strewn all over the floor. He finally noticed his blonde roommate sitting on the futon underneath his own personal (spectacularly made) and lofted bed. 

“Midorimacchi!” The blonde cried as soon as he noticed the other man, causing the green-haired man to wince. His voice was shrill and unfortunately not completely unfamiliar. Whoever decided a Cancer and a Gemini could live together were terribly mistaken.

“Get your feet off the table, Kise.” The taller man had no patience for this other Miracle, the copy cat. If Midorima were to be honest, Kise’s powers were terrifying, and he secretly hoped that the copy cat never learned how to copy the other miracles. If that were to ever happen, Kise would be too powerful for his own good. This other Miracle was a model and very popular with both the male and female populations. He was also not quiet about his sexual excursions, or sexcapades as he so eloquently called them, much to his roommate’s chagrin.

“So mean, Midorimacchi!” But the model obliged, regardless. “Guess what happened today! I met the basketball team. I of course made it as a starter. The captain is fierce! He’s short but very strict! He even kicked me a few times!!”

“Good, I’m sure you deserved it.” Midorima replied as he moved to sit at his hyper-organized desk. Kise ignored him and continued his incessant babbling.

“I met one of your friends today too! He would not stop talking about you! He recognized me from our Generation days and was surprised that ‘Shin-chan was serious about quitting basketball!’ Midorimacchi, Takao is really cute! I can’t believe you made a friend already and you guys are already so close! He already has a nickname for you and everything!”

The former shooting guard decided he was going to stop listening before he got a migraine. He did not want to discuss Miracles, basketball, or his ‘friend’ Takao for that matter. He turned his attention to ESPN that was currently playing soccer highlights on their television. Kise continued to babble for another fifteen minutes about the basketball team and the ‘gorgeous’ captain before he realized that Midorima wasn’t listening.

He kicked the back of Midorima’s desk chair as hard as he could to get the taller man’s attention. Midorima huffed and turned towards the whiny blonde.

“Midorimacchi, you should join the basketball team this year. I know you and Akashicchi had a falling out in high-”

“Shut up Kise, I am not talking about this.”

The blonde only shrugged, unfazed by the green-haired man’s temper. Midorima silently reveled in the fact that Kise apparently knew when to keep his mouth shut.

“It doesn’t matter, Midorimacchi. Do whatever you want. I however, got invited to a party on Friday night and you should come with me.”

If there was one thing the socially inept man hated, it was definitely parties. Midorima shivered at the thought of being in a room and being forced to interact with other people.

“Absolutely not.” He pulled out his laptop, determined to end this conversation before it even started.

“Please! I don’t want to go alone!” The blonde whined, making a puppy dog pout that would have brought any weaker man down in an instant. “Come on, it will be mostly basketball people! You’ll have topics to discuss and you won’t have to stand in a corner by yourself all night!”

What the tall blonde didn’t understand was that this was not a selling point for Midorima. Just the idea of interacting with so many people was beginning to make his palms sweat and his heart rate increase.

“I don’t want to go. Get the fierce Captain to go with you!”

“Takao will be there!” Kise stated, placing himself on the edge of Midorima’s desk. He smiled, as if knowing something. Was there something to know about the annoying brunette with whom he shared many classes? Midorima glanced at him sideways. There was no way, Kise had to be bluffing.

“Why do I care about that asshole?” The model’s smile only grew wider.

“Like I said before, Midorimacchi. Takao is really cute. It would be a shame to see him get drunk and make out with some random guy right?”

The taller man pinched the bridge of his nose. He was unsettled by the thought, but he didn’t know why and honestly, he didn’t particularly care. He was almost 75% certain he didn’t even like this Takao character. He was annoying, loud and very invasive of Midorima’s personal space.

“Why would I care about Takao, nanodayo?”

“Okay, maybe you don’t.” Kise conceded, a maniacal glint in his eyes. “But I could always tell him and the rest of the team about our time in high school together. I could tell them all about the weird things you don’t want people in college to know. But I would really just love to tell them all about the times I walked in on you and our former captain getting friendly in the showers. Who knew that Midorima Shintarou would ever suck dick for such a runt?”

The former Miracle cringed. How Kise knew anything about his previous relationship, Midorima wasn’t sure. His mind’s eye flashed to a tiny heterochromatic red head and he visibly shuddered. Kise would not be afraid to use blackmail, the man was a Gemini after all, but using it on the basketball team? Well there were worse options.

“Go ahead, Kise. I don’t care what the basketball team thinks about me.”

Gold eyes stared into green ones, challenging. Then Kise smirked and Midorima knew he was done for.

“I can easily ruin any shot you have of getting into med school. And trust me, I can, and will make your life a living hell for the next four years and you know it.” Midorima closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to imagine the kind of damage Kise could do. 

He sighed, there was no getting out of this now.

“Fine.”

The blonde hopped off the desk and walked towards their door.

“Perfect Midorimacchi! I’m going to dinner and don’t think you’re going to wear sweats either! I want to see you looking smokin’ hot on Friday, or else!”


	2. Ch 2: The party

**Ch. 2:**

The week had continued, going along briskly. Since Takao and Midorima shared four classes together, Midorima noticed that the two were spending an awful lot of time together. They even studied together most nights after Takao’s basketball practices and Midorima found himself tutoring the other more often than not. The brunette was truly an idiot and had to work very hard to keep up with his course work and his practices.

Despite his best efforts however, they had formed a strange alliance that some (not Midorima) would call a friendship. He had learned some important things about the other man that were becoming increasingly useful. Takao only teased people when he knew that the recipient understood it was a joke and there was no malice in his words. He also learned that Takao was not shy. He knew pretty much everyone on campus and that he wasn’t one to sugar coat anything. Midorima used this information to try to make more friends on campus. He was slowly beginning to trust Takao, a Scorpio, and Midorima hoped that meant they were actually more compatible than initially believed.

Probably the main reason Takao and Midorima spent so much time together, however, was the fact that the former was very clingy. Everywhere the green-haired man went, the brunette was right next to him, talking incessantly. He was even finding reasons to touch and hang off the taller man, much to Midorima’s chagrin. Takao had obtained Midorima’s phone number as well (he assumed a certain pretty-boy basketball player was involved) and had been texting Midorima constantly, even if the green-haired man never replied.

The former Miracle grit his teeth and shuddered at every whiny “Shin-chan” he heard, begging Takao to leave him alone. Just once he would like some peace and quiet.

When Friday rolled around, Midorima was practically desensitized to the incessant call for “Shin-chan” and barrage of unwanted attention. He got used to Takao being everywhere and now he somewhat expected it. So it was no surprise to Midorima when Takao showed up at the gym just as the taller man had settled into a lifting routine.

“Shin-chan!” He heard as the brunette sprinted towards him, already sweating from his previous encounter with the indoor track. “You shouldn’t work out alone! You need a spotter or you could get hurt!”

The green-haired man had given up on trying to get rid of the brunette since Wednesday. Takao was going to do what he wanted regardless and Midorima accepted that he had no control over the other man.

His new workout partner picked up a pair of weights and began counting out reps of his own. Takao was hesitant and the taller man was surprised that the other man was so quiet.

“So…” the smaller man started after a few moments, trying to sound casual. Midorima pretended not to listen, but he knew Takao wouldn’t fall for that.

“There’s a party tonight.” Takao continued, refusing to look at the other man.

“I know.” Midorima said simply. “I was invited, nanodayo.”

The taller man took some humor in watching Takao almost drop his weights. He quickly brushed off the shock, laughing. 

“Right. I forgot you live with Kise.” They were quiet for a few beats, the only noise the occasional grunting as they continued lifting.

“Are you going?” The green-haired man glanced sideways at the brunette. His face was red, but he attributed that to the strenuous workout they were currently participating in.

“Kise is blackmailing me, so unless I want to lose any chance at a prospective medical school and hate the next four years as much as I hated high school, I have to go.”

“That doesn’t sound like Kise.” Takao stated, snickering under his breath.

“Then you don’t know Kise very well, nanodayo. He’s a Gemini, of course he’s a manipulative bastard.”

Takao let out a full laugh at that.

“Does he really have that much juice on you, Shin-chan?” The green-haired giant kept quiet. This was getting too close to feelings territory. The brunette wasn’t paying attention anyways. He was now lost in his own train of thought, looking angry and pensive at the same time.

They continued their workout in silence. The taller man decided that he didn’t like the silence quite as much. It was unnatural for Takao to be angry and upset. Something wasn’t right with the man next to him.

Very abruptly, Takao put his weights down and sprinted towards the door.

“Bye Shin-chan!” He called, waving. “I gotta go get ready! I’ll see you tonight!”

The former Miracle huffed. Whatever was bothering Takao would be solved by the party tonight. He didn’t seem to be one to hold onto small issues and let things bother him for too long.

After his workout, Midorima walked towards his dorm. The blonde was already there getting ready, even though it was still impossibly early. Midorima watched for a few seconds as Kise added a layer of makeup to his already nearly-perfect face. He smiled, remembering the time in highschool when he broke Kise’s nose with a well-timed basketball to the face. No amount of surgery could fix it completely and it was even now very slightly crooked on the right side. Pretty-boy model deserved it in Midorima’s opinion.

The blonde turned, finally noticing the green-haired man behind him.

“Midorimacchi! Get dressed! I told you to look hot. I don’t want you embarrassing me tonight!” The taller man sighed. Tonight was going to be miserable.

There was a documentary on in the background as Kise hummed and added eyeliner to his already overly-made up face. Midorima was becoming irritated as he sat on their futon. He had been waiting for 45 minutes and that was after he showered and Kise made hims change twice. His anxiety was increasing and as soon as he got through with this night the better. Kise finally let Midorima get away with wearing a black shirt and a pair of dark wash jeans. The whole outfit was excessively tight and uncomfortable, but the blonde was satisfied. Well, he was almost satisfied. Midorima had lucked his way out of makeup and sighed with relief. The blonde had asked once, whining about how amazing his mile-long eyelashes would look with mascara. The green-eyed man was saved by the bell, literally, as Kise got distracted by a phone call from the Captain. He quickly forgot about the idea of Midorima in makeup all together.

After his contouring was perfect and his winged eyeliner was “to die for,” Kise had to decide what to wear. He finally settled on a tight blue shirt and light, loose-fitting jeans. The two arrived at the party two hours late and most of their peers were already inebriated.

The party was small and filled with mostly basketball players, much to Midorima’s relief. He had already met most of them through Kise or Takao and was pleasantly surprised that it seemed to just be basketball players and some close friends. He could handle this type of party.

The model found his beloved captain, made a half-hearted excuse about asking the elder man about some basketball tips (like he needed them, Midorima thought, he was a former Miracle for crying out loud!) and practically skipped over towards the short brunette. Midorima watched with pleasure as Kise got punched in the stomach and then quickly turned his attention elsewhere.

Midorima looked around for the beer. If he was going to have to come to a college basketball party, he was going to at least pretend to enjoy himself. He opened a can and cringed as the cold, bitter liquid hit the back of his throat. Beer was disgusting, but it would help to calm him some.

He parked himself on the slimy green couch in the living room and watched a few of the basketball players participate in a rousing game of flip-cup. He nursed his beer, knowing he wasn’t going to drink much more of it, but wanting to look as though he belonged there anyways.

As the partygoers moved on to the more interesting event of dancing, Takao appeared next to Midorima. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a plain white shirt underneath and a pair of grey jeans that Midorima thought might have been painted on. The taller man watched as blue eyes roamed up and down his body. He quirked an eyebrow, but didn’t grace the other man with words.

“You look good, Shin-chan! I’m glad you came.” He paused for a moment as if realizing that was incorrect and reworded his previous statement.

“I’m glad Kise blackmailed you into coming. I’m also glad he forced you to wear that outfit.”

Midorima felt himself give a tiny, barely-there smile. That statement alone was just as ridiculous as it sounded. He didn’t think the other man would notice, but Takao seemed to beam up at him regardless.

“You have a really nice smile, Shin-chan.” Shock radiated through him. His face had been called many things: intimidating, fierce, scary… but nice was never one of them. He pushed his glasses up to hide his blushing face.

The two continued to converse. Or rather, Takao continued to converse with him. They discussed basketball, horoscopes (Cancers were in 8th today, Scorpios were in 2nd), and classes. The former Miracle didn’t notice the room getting eerily quiet and a small red-head approaching. He watched as Takao turned towards the shorter man. They greeted each other, curtly and that’s when it finally clicked for Midorima.

This wasn’t just some short red-head that didn’t seem to like Takao. This was the former Generation of Miracles Captain. This was Midorima Shintarou’s ex-boyfriend. This was Akashi Seijuro.

Green eyes met heterochromatic ones and Midorima’s mood instantly soured. The tiny red-head squeezed himself in between the two men. Midorima hadn’t realized how close he had been sitting to Takao, but was more irritated that he was now sitting even closer to Akashi.

“Shintarou, I’m glad you’re here! And with friends no less!” Akashi glared at the brunette sitting next to him. This was not going to be good and the green-haired man could feel his palms beginning to sweat.

“Ryouta called me. He explained that you wanted to get back together.” With this said, the short redhead placed a possessive hand on the taller man’s thigh. Midorima swatted it away. He tried to subtly look at Takao decipher the emotions that were currently crossing his face. He was being uncharacteristically quiet.

“Kise is an idiot.” was the reply Midorima provided for his former lover. He was going to kill the blonde once he got back to the dorm. He was trying to act way calmer than he felt, he tried to control his breathing, but he could feel the beginnings of an anxiety attack.

“You look very nice tonight.” Akashi continued, unfazed by the coldness coming from the other man. He tried to card his fingers through Midorima’s hair and received another swat from Midorima’s hand.

“Not interested.” Something flashed behind the red-head’s mismatched eyes and Midorima knew they were in trouble.

“Shintarou, I’m done playing this childish game.” Anger was rising in his voice and the taller man tried everything to appear nonchalant on the outside. “I let you break up with me so that you could go off to college and experience ‘being single’ for a little while. I know you’re miserable without me and it’s time to come back.”

“You’re also batshit insane!” Takao chimed in. Midorima glanced over at him, praying for him to stay out of this and keep his mouth shut for once. Takao might possibly die tonight if he continued to butt into things that were none of his business. Akashi was dangerous and Takao was stupid, this was a bad combination.

“You are crazy to believe that Shin-chan wants anything to do with you! Move on buddy, time to let go of the past.”

That was the wrong thing to say. This was only going to get worse from here.

“Shin-chan? How cute. I see what’s happening here.” The red-heads eyes grew wide and gleamed mischievously.

“Let’s go Takao!” Midorima said, standing.

“Actually Shintarou, I would like very much to talk to Takao alone for a minute.” Takao shot Midorima a glance, telling the former Miracle that he believed that he could hold his own. Blue eyes flashed back towards heterochromatic ones, and getting either of these two stubborn men to leave was a lost cause.

He stepped away and went to find Kise. This was not how college was supposed to go. Akashi was not supposed to be here.

He spotted the blonde flirting with the short brunette from earlier. He had spiky brown hair and massive eyebrows. They were deeply involved in conversation that sounded a lot like Kise flirting and this brunette reciprocating.

“Kise” Midorima grunted, successfully pulling the blonde out of his private bubble.

“What Midorimacchi!? Can’t you see I’m busy!?” The blonde whined. The brunette punched him the stomach and Midorima decided he instantly liked the man. However, he had more pressing issues at the moment.

“Kise, it’s time to go.” Midorima said, standing at his full height, trying to sound more intimidating than he felt.

“But why?” The blonde asked as tears began to fall from his eyes. 

“Akashi is here.”

Instantly, Kise perked up.

“Good! I invited him. I was hoping you guys could repair your relationship and get back together! You guys had such a terrible falling out in high school.”

The blonde was positively beaming. He absolutely thought his actions were bringing good to the world. Midorima just wanted to hit him.

“I’m going to kill you. You had no right.” The blonde hid behind his smaller cohort who was looking just as pissed as Midorima felt. “You are such an idiot.”

Midorima walked away before he caused more bodily harm to the blonde’s nose. He could go to jail for stuff like that now and he knew that he wouldn’t do well in prison. He told himself that Kise was just trying to help, that he didn’t understand the whole story about his past with the red-head. That was something he wasn’t willing to discuss with anyone. He was going to leave this party alone, he needed to get out of there. He could feel his pulse rising and his breathing becoming shorter.

Midorima could hear the two point guards fighting in the living room.

“Just because his feelings are written in a language you can’t understand doesn’t mean he doesn’t have them.” That was Takao and he sounded very upset.

“You are foolish, Takao. I am absolute.”

“I think it’s up to him to decide how he feels.”

Midorima didn’t want to hear anymore. This night had gone from okay to damaging in a matter of minutes and he was sweating profusely. He pushed his was passed some lingering cheerleaders and made his way out the back door. He forced himself to take large gulps of fresh and count backwards from one thousand as slowly as he could.

_ Nine hundred ninety nine. _

His feet were leading him and he blindly followed.

_ Eight hundred. _

He was still walking blindly, now cursing himself for not bringing a jacket.

_ Six hundred twenty two. _

He recognized the building, though he had only been inside once before during orientation. His pulse was slowing, his chest becoming less tight, his breathing more regular.

_ Four hundred three. _

He stood in the middle of the darkened gym. This was what he needed; it always worked in the past.

_ Two hundred fifteen. _

He found a cart of basketballs and pulled it towards the middle of the gym.

_ One hundred fifty. _

That’s how many perfect shots it would take to calm his nerves enough to logically think through this Akashi situation.

He had made seventy shots when he heard the door to the basketball court slam. The precision-shooter turned, praying it wasn’t the dangerous red-head. To his relief it was a slightly taller brunette. He had honestly never felt so happy to see the other man. He turned back towards the hoop. He still had 80 shots to go. He was going to ignore the swelling and purpling eye Takao was sporting and pretend everything was okay for now.

“You plan on telling me what that was about?” Takao asked. The green-haired man grabbed the next ball from the cart and shot it. Swish.

“No.”

“Fine. Don’t talk about the fact that I just got into with a crazy ex-boyfriend of yours. I helped you Shin-chan, the least you could do is thank me.” Takao was definitely irritated. 

“I didn’t ask you to do that, nanodayo.” Another shot. They both watched it sink into the net without bouncing. 

“Oh please, Shin-chan! You practically had a shit-conniption as soon as you figured out he was there. You were panicking, what else was I supposed to do?”

The taller man froze, mid shot. There’s no way that Takao could have known he was panicking. He knew for a fact that he was very good about hiding it.

“You know what they call me on the court, Shin-chan?” Midorima didn’t answer, knowing that the smaller man would continue regardless. Takao picked up a basketball that had landed near his feet, tossing it back and forth between his hands.

“I’m well-known as the Hawk-eye. I can see everything on the court. But Shin-chan I am also very good at reading people and I know when people are uncomfortable. Don’t lie to me and tell me you weren’t.” He slammed the basketball into the wall, where it made a satisfying slam before bouncing off into the storage closet.

“Shut up, Takao.” Was the green-haired man’s only reply.

“Hit the nail on the head then, didn’t I?” Suddenly there was a giant orange something flying towards his face. He caught it instinctively and shot it. Swish. Only 70 more to go.

The brunette rebounded the ball and sent it flying back towards Midorima. He grunted as the pass connected, stinging his hand. Takao was apparently very good at this and his passes didn’t miss. They continued like this for a while, silence becoming comfortable between them. As Midorima’s count dwindled, he could tell that this impromptu shooting practice was having similar effects on Takao’s mood. This was apparently something they both needed.

The count struck zero. Midorima grabbed the bottom of his shirt and wiped sweat from his face, noticing suddenly that he was still wearing his tight clothing from the party. When he was finished he caught Takao smirking as he stared at Midorima’s abs. Eventually his bright blue eyes roamed back up towards Midorima’s face.

“You know Shin-chan, you don’t have to tell me anything. But next time I have to fight a crazy ex can you please warn me first?” He stuck his tongue out a smile creeping onto his features. Midorima nodded, glad to finally have someone in this fight with him.

The two left the gym together. The taller man realized belatedly that Takao was walking towards his dorm with him. He allowed it.

“Did Akashi do that to you?” Midorima asked, unable to ignore the guilt he felt for the purpling eye that Takao was now sporting. Takao shrugged.

“It was more my fault than anything. He stood up to leave and I tried to follow him and got an elbow to the face from one of the party-goers.”

Midorima grunted.

“He’s dangerous, just be careful, nanodayo.” The man next to him smiled. “And put some ice on that when you get back to your dorm.”

“You care about me don’t you Shin-chan? I knew I could break you down eventually.”

“Takao.” Midorima warned, and thankfully, the brunette got the hint. The two walked the rest of the way to the former Miracle’s dorm in silence.

Midorima put his key in the lock and almost screamed in frustration. His wonderful blonde roommate was currently doing unmentionable things with the captain of the basketball team! Before he could react properly and give Kise a lecture on the risks of hookup culture, he felt a hand over his pulling on the door knob. After the door clicked back into place, he turned to look down at the smaller man, confused.

“Let them go, Shin-chan. It’s all Kise has talked about to anyone who listen. Just give him this one night. It’s getting late, you can sleep at my place.”

Midorima looked at his watch. It was already 04:00 and he had things that needed to be done in the morning. He hesitated, calculating all his options. The seemingly best option was slipping away quickly as Takao began to wander back towards his dorm.

“Takao, I am only doing this once. You do not get to mess with me while I’m sleeping, nanodayo. I will leave promptly at 8am and we will never speak of this again.”

The reply from Takao was a loud yawn and a wave of his wrist in the taller man’s general direction.

“Yeah, yeah Shin-chan. Whatever you say. I’ll make you breakfast too if you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right guys! I just finished chapter 2 and there's a lot that goes on in here. Sorry guys, I probably should have split this up into two chapters but I just couldn't.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> I know a lot of people like Akashi, I personally don't. I know I might get some hate for this, but that's okay. There will be mentions of abuse (emotional and psychological, not necessarily physical) and anxiety in later chapters. There will also be some graphic sexual encounters later on (I will always make a note and clearly mark those chapters, and I will try to make them as plot-less as I can).
> 
> If you like this (or even if you don't) please leave comments or kudos!


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